All that glitters is not gold;
Often have you heard that told:
Many a man his life hath sold
But my outside to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms enfold.
Had you been as wise as bold,
Young in limbs, in judgement old
Your answer had not been inscroll’d
Fare you well, your suit is cold.
Act II – Scene VII – Prince of Morocco,
The Merchant of Venice
________________________
From the Journal of Social Psychology and Personal Science
People With Dark Personalities Tend to Create a Physically Attractive Veneer
Which personality traits are associated with physical attractiveness? Recent findings suggest that people high in some dark personality traits, such as narcissism and psychopathy, can be physically attractive. But what makes them attractive? Studies have confounded the more enduring qualities that impact attractiveness (i.e., unadorned attractiveness) and the effects of easily manipulated qualities such as clothing (i.e., effective adornment). In this multimethod study, we disentangle these components of attractiveness, collect self-reports and peer reports of eight major personality traits, and reveal the personality profile of people who adorn themselves effectively. Consistent with findings that dark personalities actively create positive first impressions, we found that the composite of the Dark Triad—Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy—correlates with effective adornment. This effect was also evident for psychopathy measured alone. This study provides the first experimental evidence that dark personalities construct appearances that act as social lures—possibly facilitating their cunning social strategies.
Related articles
- Psychology Uncovers Sex Appeal of Dark Personalities (scientificamerican.com)
- Why People Fall for Bad Boys and Mean Girls (medicaldaily.com)
- Why Are Narcissitic, Machiavellian Psychopaths So Attractive? (theawl.com)
- FYI: Why Are Mean People So Hot? (oddonion.com)
- What a Pretty Face Can’t Tell You (psychologytoday.com)
- Why people fall for bad boys and mean girls (sott.net)
- Physical attractiveness is just skin deep (teatart.com)
There is certainly evidence of this is many a serial killer, right?
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I believe so I will try to see if I can get the whole paper I just posted the abstract
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Great picture. American Psycho is one of the oddest movies I’ve seen. In terms of oddness, I rank it right up there with Eraserhead.
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